Process of refining crude petroleum-oil



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v v G. L. BENTON. .v p I PROCESS OF REFINING CRUDE PETROLEUM O'IL- N0.342,564.- Patented May 25,1886.

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srncrrrcn'rr'onr mm part or Letters Patent no; 342,554, dated my, lass.

, Application Bled rstmaryaziess. sewn n). 156,993! (No modhll 3 .'l'oall whom itjzha y concern.-

Be it known that I, GEOR E L. BnNromof Titusville, in the county ofCrawford and State.

of Pennsylvania, have invented cert'ain new:

7 and useful Improvements in Processes of Refihing Crude Petroleum, ofwhich improve;

' ments't-he following is as'peoification My invention relates toanimp'roved method of refining crude petroleum that is-extracted 1ovdirectly from the earth in contradistinction to that which hasundergone the usual primary distillation before refinement.

'The object of my invention is to confine the; crude petroleum underhigh heat and press ize simultaneously, forming a homogeneous vapor andcontaining in its bulk the benzine which has heretofore ordinarily beenexpelled therefrom and utilized for other than illuminating purposes,and this vapor, when-con-j doused, producing a homogeneousilluminating-oil, such as p n dt a Cru de petroleum 'iszhh'emicallydefined as homologous hydrocarbons, these hydrocar bons havingdifl'erent specific gravities, and

.when such petroleum is refined to a certain deg'ree it is calledburning i 1- ill i gi v 1 oil. This refined petroleum is still acompound ities, and,this degree of refining being eflected by treatingthe crude 'oil in stills or apparatus of similar character, thepetroleum of com merce is generally designated as a distillate. j- A YThe refining of petroleum as ordinarilycon-I -heat gradually increasedat each stage, and

' T the first product is what is designated'as ben-- 45 zine, which,while rich in illnniinat-ingprop erties, is-too volatile to beso usedwith safety,

and is therefore sold for other applications and at a less price than.the heavier ,distillates.

compounds is vaporized and likewise condensed and conducted to aseparate chamber,

- for such purposes, andwlgich includes paraf- Qt'hen drawn ofi. andutilizedjn various W'Vhilethe proportion of benziue'v component parts ofthe petroleu-m willvapo'rhereinafter more particularly consisting almostentirely of a mixture of isubjectedto-further continuous heat-until another "and heavier class. of the hydrocarbon this second product of-thedistillationbe'ing known as .illuu iu'ating--v oils, and theresiduumwhich is of too great specific gravity fine 'and other substances, allcomprised te'hnica'lly under'the designation of f tar,-,f is

. y after treatment by difl'erentpr crude petroleumitisalwaysconsideiable," and;

"in' some cases reaches as'highaatwelvejp6r" v centgso'that itoccasiqnsaseriouslossotthe v- 1 -raw material u'sedtohavthebenzineunavaila- 4 f 7 duced, as alreadymentioned, audit ifs-ca et I theobjects offm'yinventionto avoid this Me for illuminating purposes; andits valir'e freand thereby i increasefthdfquantity: and m prove thequality'of the-illuminating-oil produ'cedi'roin iagiven quantity ofcrude material} My invention consists, essentially, in subjecting thecrude pctroluem to high heatand '-'press'iire in a chamber or pipe orvessel, and

.so' regulating the'hea't applied as to raise the temperature oi'the'crudeliqnid to about 700 h enh t f. h lf' W i TL w D Q i pressure ofabout ,five'h'undred pounds'per square inch, more or lessz-fl Un'deiftlii's"pressure'the liberation of any vaporiI'min"tluihi ghly-heatedcrude liquid is preventeduntjlthe heat shall have beencontinuedjlongenough" vand raised high euoughfto bring'the ,ntire bodyof the oil confined in "the chamberfor pipe or" vessel to;auniform-temperature, when it is next discharged in a spray into a vaporfchamber, in which UhgllGVlOllS high temperatnreis' sti1l maintain moved.The difi'ereht-hydroca'rbons will wag;

but the 133. 9% re! porize"simultaneously, forming a homogene jous'vapor,j (instead of first vaporizing thebe'nzine,' and. then' thenextheaviest hydrocarhens,- as heretofore mentionedJ andth cse-lib-,eratedyapor's wi'll be ke t homogeneousf -by' the intimate'ehen ical'anityof thciriconstituents, while anyunvaporizingportions-of themassaccumulating precipitate in this i'n termsdiate' vesseL iiroin-thcbottom' 'of which;

they maybe drawn-off through a suitable pipe and-cock. "The final'stepconsists in conduct i .ing the homogeneous vapors from this vaporchamberto an ordinary condenser, which may consist of a coil of pipes immersedin water in resented an apparatus such as I have used with practicalsuccess in the conduct of my I improved process.

Figure-1 is'a vertical longitudinal section through-the apparatus. Fig.2 isa horizontal longitudjnalsectionon the line a a of Fig. 1, and Fig.3 isa plan or top view.-.

This apparatus consists of a furnace, A, constructed of brick-work, andprovided with a grate, a, an ash-pit, b, a'door, c, a chimney, d,afire-bridge, e, and a chamber space, f, extending from end to end. andfrom side to sideof the interior of the furnace, as seen in Figs.

1and2...

Inithe chamberspace f is arranged the coiled pipe B, Fig. 2, connectedat the rear end i through the furnacewall with the oil-supply,

and' provided'at this end with a pressure-gage,

S, and an overflow pressure-valve, q, of any suitable construction topreventundue increase of pressure in the pipe'B. This pipe extends atthe front end through the furnace-- wall, and is provided with apyrometer, l,

The pipe B'is continued up into the vapor-- chainber'C, as shown, andthis end of the'pipe B- is provided with a rose or perforated cap,through which the highly-heated crude oil can 0 bespray'ed into thechamber G. I prefer to connect with the pipe B, outside of. the furnace,a waste-pipe, a, with a stop-cock, k, for

' apurpose to be presently described.

The vapor-chamber ()is an inclosed metallic 5 vessel of suitablestrength .and madeair-tight. It is fitted intot'hetop of the furnace, asshown, and has a dished bottom, which is exposed to the'heat of theft'rnace or chamber f, aiid it has ."an outlet-pipe, h, leading off 5othroughthefurnace to the outside. 'Undrheaththetop of thisVaporchamberC, and above the spray-pipe B, is a deflecting-hood, m,extending out toward the sides of the chamber, but having anannularspace between the 5 edge of the. hood andthe side of the vapor-.chamber. In the top-Lot theviipor-chamber is' a pipe which leads oflpreferably to. the "manit'oId H,which 'isa condensing-box of theordinary construction, and thence by pipes'to the condenser- D,orth-ervapor may pass directly from'the chamber 0 to the condenserD; andat the'lower end'ot' this condenser an airpump may be attached, as shownin thedrawings, and for a purpose to be hereinatter specifled. Astop-cock, g, is so arranged as to be operated from the outside ofthe'vapor-chamher, and to be opened or shut, asit is desired,

to regulate the discharge of the highly-heated oil from the pipe B intothe chamber 0, or to confine it to the pipe B.

In this apparatus the operation is conducted as follows: The stop-cock ybeingshut and the opened, a tire is started on the grate a, and thecrude oil is let in from the supply to the coilpipe B and allowed toflow out through the waste-pipe i, (from which itis led back to thesupply.) while the pipe]; and the chamber f gattain the propertemperature,which will be ascertained by the observation of the workmanin charge. :Whcn he'finds that the furnace has attaine'dfthe propertemperature, he shuts the waste-cock In and the stop-cock 9 beingalready shut thus confines the oil in the pipe B under the pressure ofthe supply or of .a pump, T, which feeds the oil to the pipes.

pyrometer indicates that it has attained a temperature sufliciently highto have had the latent vaporizing eifect upon the oil, (in practice Ihave found this temperature to range from 700 to 1,000 Fahrenheit.) whenthe stopcock gis opened andthe released vaporized oil rushes out throughthe rose in the end of pipe B and strikes on the under side of the hoodm, from which it is deflected downward, and then rises through theannular space between the hood and the wall of the chamber 0, and passesinto the pipe which leads di- H, and thence by pipes to thevcondenser D,and through this condenser into a. receivingtank ,of any ordinaryconstruction. It will be understood that the chamber 0 will havep'orized oil into'it, and that its temperature is maintained by thefurnace to correspond substantially with that of the spray escaping intoit from the coiled pipe B, through which the passage oi the crude oil isnow kept up .cou tinually,under the regulated pressureat's'u'ch velocityas to provide time for itsrequiredincrease of temperature while passingthrough the furnace.

an ordinary air-pump with the lower end of the coil D at d, and thusfacilitate the operaoil is raised to and maintained'at a suflicientlyisrele'ased from the pressure under which it leased, it is preventedbythe pressure from vaporizing at all, and, consequently, when itis Citbursts into vapor, and this vapor is entirely "homogeneous, so that,after being deflected in the chamber G and then rising again to pass oftinto the condenser D, it-passes off he homogeneous volume, whiledepositing in the bottom of the chamberO such heavyorpon-volatilizedimpurities as may have been To promote the passage ofthe vapor from 'the chamber 0 to the condenser D, I connect tion. Bythis process I have found that the Q.

iis confined in the .pipe B, while, until so rewaste-pipe z',-connectedwith the pipe B, being The oil with whichthe pipe B is thus filled is vkept in the pipe under this pressure until the rectly' to the condenserD or to the manifold 10' becomeheatedbefore the admission of the'va- 9high temperature to vaporize it as soon as it permitted to escape intothe heated chamber a in the crude petroleum. These accumulatingimpurities are drawn ofl through the pipe h in the bottom of the chamber0. Y a

My improved apparatus, such as I have hereinabove' described andhavensed with.

practical success inthe conduct of this in proved process, forms thesubject-matter of a Separate application for a patent (Serial No.165,3l0)'under date of May 13, 1885.

In the conduct of this improved process I ,do not confine myself to thedegrees of high temperature, nor to the amount of high pressu'rehereinbefore mentioned,'as both require to be changed, or theirpropontions relativelyhave to be varied to determine either the qualityof the illuminating-oil to be made from 100 to 330 Fahrenheit, to causethe-separation of the lighter gases from the heavier oils on the removal'of' the pressure, and I therefore do not wish to claim any suchprocess;-v

but

What I do claim as my inventiomanddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The process oflrefining crude petroleum, which consists in heating theoil to atemperatur'e ranging from abont 'i00 to 1,0009Fahrenheit,' andunder a. pressure of about five hnndred'pounds, or more, to the squareinch, then causing the heated oil, to expand into a chamber ofapproximately the same temperature, and finally conducting. it into 'anordinary apparatus wherein it is condensed, substantially as described.

. GIJORGHL.- BENTON.

Witnesses:

'0. W. BURTIs,

J. L, Mean.

